About Traci

I like furniture, art and people.

For the past six years, I've been a small business owner of an eclectic furniture, art and gift shop in San Francisco: Poetica Art and Antiques. It's been such a great experience working with my fellow merchants on Sacramento St. and meeting neighbors in Presidio Heights and our surrounding neighborhoods. On occasion, I share why I'm so energized when I help others - especially in the realm of health, healing and home. This is not required reading - but if you want to know more please read on!

My family background:

My father is 2nd generation Japanese American (Nisei.) He had 3 siblings and is from Kent, Washington. My mother is from a family of 12. She was born and raised in a small town Savannah, Tennessee. My mother and her sister Mary left Savannah as young women and moved to Oklahoma City. My parents met when my dad, a young Army lieutenant was stationed at Fort Sills, OK. He met my mom at a drive-in restaurant. Three weeks later they got married. They just celebrated their 62nd wedding anniversary.

Our family moved about every four years when I was growing up. My mother is a creative person who enjoys working on her home and making things. When we moved she always encouraged me to make my room special - to make it my own.

I was one of those kids who didn't know exactly what I wanted to do as a career or where I wanted to go to college when I was a senior in high school. What I did know: I loved working with interesting and knowledgeable people (women especially) and I was drawn to people who loved their work. I was a sensitive person and academics were not my strongest suit. I worked during the school year and summers trying on different part time jobs: bistro, flower shop, antique store, interior design studio, art gallery and working with local nonprofits. I started school at U.T. Arlington, transfered to DeAnza College in Cupertino and then transferred to U.C.S.C. where I graduated with a B.A. in Art History (Porter College 93'.) I continued to work in the fields of retail furniture and art and volunteered to community causes as I was able.

Healing Environments:

Prior to opening my shop in June 2011, I worked with Kate Strasburg and Bay Area graphic designer and San Jose State teacher Sam Smidt creating the newsletters /journals and interior design projects for a wonderful nonprofit called Healing Environments. 1996-2010. The mission was to create comforting and meaningful environments for patients, family members, and staff of hospice, palliative care centers and hospitals. You can find the website and materials at this address: healingenvironments.com. The newsletters were rich in meaningful content and thoughtful creativity and were filled with stories acknowledging the pain and suffering encountered in life and illness.

Maitri and the Jefferson Award:

In 2006, I received a Jefferson Award for the design and furniture contributions I made to Maitri Compassionate Care in S.F. The work and care happening within this special facility taught me so much - far beyond design and furniture it boiled down to the importance of compassion and care. Not letting people die alone was part of the original mission. The mission has expanded to help make Maitri 's services and housing available for people who get stronger. Remarkable experiences during this time helped shape who I am today. Maitri's website.

The Shop:

In 2011, I had the opportunity to open this store. I was in a career transition post-Healing Environments and post-Interim Executive Director of Maitri. My son was in 6th grade and commented to me that he appreciated the good work I was doing but he didn't get to see me as much. I move through life encouraging poeple I meet to live. life. now. I decided to heed my own advice and take a leap of faith by starting my own business. Having a brick and mortar shop in a charming neighborhood in a great city is pretty awesome.

Community:

I'm committed to community volunteering for special projects and causes. Most recently, I've been a board member for the Presidio Heights Neighborhood Association (PHAN), Sacramento Street Merchants Assoc., NERT- Emergency preparedness, a member of the SFPD Richmond Police Station Community Advisory Board (CPAB) plus I had a 10 year role with the Maitri Board of Directors. My personal agenda is to create a safe, prosperous, connected neighborhood commercial district and community.

Today, I'm a proud mom of a senior in high school. And dog mom to Huckleberry aka "Huck." Huckleberry is a six year old Shih-poo known for his adorable underbite. Don't underestimate him - he's our local security guard, neighborhood ambassador and shop dog all in one. He puts people at ease and has frequent visitors in human and dog form throughout the week.

If you have a special request or you're looking for something special please let me know. Call, email or stop by!